of the issues connected to the newtown tragedy, guns, a culture of violence, and mental hale, but despite those good efforts to take a comprehensive look at the problem, the national policy conversation inevitably reverts back to one issue, gun control, and that conversation is always the same. the left pushes, the right resists. that conversation isn't working. here is why. if you truly believe that guns are the problem, then the only intellectually honest argument is to eliminate them all. focusing only on assault weapons is a cop out. in 2010 a mere 2.8% of homicides were committed withen assault weapon while 42.6% were committed with a handgun and during the ten-year federal ban on assault weapons numerous mass shootings, including columbine, still took place. making it harder to obtain a gun is also confusing the issue. adam lanza stole the guns from his mother. gun control advocates should want her guns and all guns banned. would-be murderers don't respect those artificial boundaries. but aside from the constitutional impossibility of eliminating all guns, prohibition hasn't proven to be